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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. rule — a law
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. game — wild animals
  5. race — humankind
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. tube — a container
  8. club — for dancing
  9. rule — government
  10. race — a contest
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. date — the fruit
  13. chest — of your body
  14. race — the arms race
  15. club — for golf
  16. chest — a box
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. club — a group
  19. cap — a hat
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. tube — the underground
  22. cap — of ice
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cap — a lid

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com